Syd Barrett

Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, known for his whimsical style of psychedelia and stream-of-consciousness writing. As a guitarist, he was influential for his free-form playing and for employing effects such as dissonance, distortion, echo and feedback.

Barrett was musically active for just over ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded the first three singles, their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), part of their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968), and several songs that were not released until later. He departed in April 1968 amid speculation of mental illness and his use of psychedelic drugs. Barrett began a brief solo career the following year with the single "Octopus", followed by albums The Madcap Laughs (1970) and Barrett (1970), recorded with the help of Pink Floyd and the Soft Machine.

In 1974, Barrett left the music industry, retired from public life and guarded his privacy until his death. He continued painting and dedicated himself to gardening. Pink Floyd recorded several tributes and homages, including the 1975 song suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and parts of the 1979 rock opera The Wall. In 1988, EMI released an album of unreleased tracks and outtakes, Opel, with Barrett's approval. In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2006.

Roger Keith Barrett was born on 6 January 1946 in Cambridge as the fourth of five children to a middle-class family living at 60 Glisson Road. His father, Arthur Max Barrett, was a prominent pathologist and was said to be related to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson through Max's maternal grandmother Ellen Garrett. In 1951, his family moved to 183 Hills Road, Cambridge.

Barrett played piano occasionally but usually preferred writing and drawing. He bought a ukulele aged 10, a banjo at 11 and a Höfner acoustic guitar at 14. Initially playing acoustic guitar, he later purchased an electric Selmer Futurama III. He was a Scout with the 7th Cambridge troop and went on to be a patrol leader.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.